Originally Posted by Loudgoldwing

As I'm typing this, I have a funny little smile on my face... First of all, I'm at the office, eating lunch at my desk. Normally, this isn't a big deal. But today my wife surprized me with a REALLY cool lunch. Today, I'm eating a can of Spaghetti-O's with Meatballs. Now, lemme tell ya, aside from spontaneous and gratuitous nudity, I've discovered that Spaghetti-O's with Meatballs are about the best thing on Earth to brighten a 38-year-old guy's day.

However, they have an odd side effect. They bring back the memories of that 38-year-old guy's early life, when Spaghetti-O's with Meatballs was a staple food item. Problem is, with that set of memories pounding through my head so strongly, it affected something else... my ability to make responsible decisions about things like spending money on toys and candy. It is with that COMPLETE and utter lack of fiscal conservatism that I present to you a new saga. Today, I embark upon a new journey called the "Volo Performance VP12 ECU Soft Flash Chip."

I did a little research on this thing. It appears to be a system that interprets different sensor readings in your vehicle, compares them with a few different pre-programmed injection maps it has stored in its own memory, and then intercepts and replaces the instructions of the ECU in order to allow the engine to operate more smoothly and efficiently. Normally? I look at this explanation and I want to laugh out loud at somebody wanting to sell it to me for $89.00...

...but then I take a bite of Spaghetti-O's... and I think to myself, like Gollum from the Lord of the Rings, huddled in the dark corner of my own repressed 6-year-old emotional flash-back...

"We WANTS it, Precious..."



I gotta tell ya: People either love this thing, or they hate it. I've seen some people in other forums who say that this little dandy helps correct certain trim issues in their vehicles. I've seen some people say that it does nothing for them (specifically, one guy who hooked it up to his newer M5, expecting it to develop a resistance to gravity or something). I've seen some people say that their performance has suffered. Me? I figure it this way... I drive a 12-valve V6. It's an extremely reliable, but under-tuned engine in my opinion. Even when this vehicle was introduced in 1992, it used borrowed technology that could have been considered out-dated. If there ever was a candidate for the kind of "digital tweaking" that this company says their product can do, I think a '98 Cabbie is a PERFECT guinea pig. Besides, I have an Ultra-Gauge hooked up and giving me constant system info, so if this thing causes any issues, I'll know about it before anything really bad happens, right?

As I sit here, with a faint orange ring around the edges of my mouth, and a big napkin still tucked into my collar like a bib, I say to you, my B4 brethren... "I wanna buy it!!!" I look at it this way. I'm going to go into this from a perspective of complete transparency. I'll tell this company who I am (Sean) and why I'm buying this (to review it for the Audiworld B4 Forum). If the company shoots straight with me, I'll allow my inner 6-year-old to grab the wheel (and my PayPal password) and roll the dice. Here's the email I sent (It's 10 minutes later, by the way):

"Good afternoon,

I am interested in purchasing this product in order to provide the members of my Audi Owners' club with a full review of its performance. I own a 1998 Audi Cabriolet with a 2.8 liter, 12-valve V6. The vehicle has 70,000 miles, and is equipped with a more freely-breathing cat-back exhaust system. Now that the exhaust is fully broken in, I'm eager to try your product in order to maximize the amount of performance gain I can receive. I currently run a full-system monitoring Ultra-gauge setup that will allow me to observe and record any differences in trim-mapping, airflow, o2 sensor output, etc. Are you willing to assure me that you have configured your VP12 with the specific ECM variations required to actually cause my vehicle to run stronger? Thanks!"

As you can see, I have asked this company a VERY pointed question about their product, and my specific needs.

We'll see what they have to say... I only hope they reply before Chef Boyardee ends the "Happy Dance" he's doing on my wallet.

Cheers,
LG